Motorists in Cannock Chase paid more than £91,000 in parking fines in six months as figures showed the number of tickets handed out by enforcers in the district rose four per cent.

Despite one of five parking officers being axed to cut costs the four remaining workers issued 3,451 tickets between April and September, up from 3,314 for the same period last year.

Parking ticket cancellations fell from 22 per cent to 17 per cent, with 591 tickets issued in Cannock rescinded on appeal by the parking enforcement service.

Despite the number of tickets issued bosses said the service operates at a loss and is subsidised by Staffordshire County Council.

Officers targeted parking hotspots at residents’ requests and patrolled schools to crackdown on parents ignoring yellow zig-zag  lines.

The figures revealed today include both on and off-street parking penalties.

Council leader George Adamson said today: “It is vital we keep the streets clear. People would park without any thought for others if we didn’t have the wardens. The service runs at a loss but is subsidised by the county council.

“Schools are a major problem, not only here but nationally. There’s a constant demand from all our schools to come and enforce the parking regulations.”

Councillor Adamson said another area of concern was Brunswick Road, near Cannock Chase Hospital.

“Parking outside the hospital is horrendous, wardens are constantly up and down that road monitoring the situation,” he said.

Today’s figures come after it emerged takings from off-street car parks in Staffordshire had plunged up to eight per cent in the past year.

In Cannock finance chiefs expect income to be down two per cent on last year with motorists parking at town centre stores instead. while bosses at Stafford Borough Council had expected to make £2.3million but are now budgeting for a £186,000 shortfall. They are blaming the struggling economy, ageing population and supermarkets.